Devil In Me
by LowerLevelMisfit
Summary: The sequel to The Daughter We Never Knew. Taking place a year after Kyra's life was torn into pieces, Ray and Kai are watching their daughter spiral, doing everything they can to get their old daughter back. Can they help Kyra before she falls down the wrong path? More importantly, will Kyra accept their help and find her true self again? Warning: Yaoi, drug use, underage drinking
1. No Care

**_Welcome to Devil In Me, the sequel of The Daughter We Never Knew. This story takes place a year after the events of the first story and surrounds Kyra's journey in healing after her life had been torn apart._ _The story itself is named after the song 'Devil In Me' by Halsey, a song I feel perfectly paints Kyra's feelings after everything that has happened. She is broken and lost, looking to shut off her feelings in any way possible. Each chapter in the story will be named after a song that fits Kyra's journey, just like how most of the chapters were in The Daughter We Never Knew._**

This chapter is named after the song 'No Care' by Daughter. I recommend to listen to the songs to get the full picture but don't feel like you have to! I encourage everyone to review as it helps me know what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong and I also get ideas from what you guys tell me you want to see so if you want to see something happen, let me know in the reviews! They really help my writing get better. Now, without further a due, here is Devil In Me.

No Care

 _Kai's P.O.V_

It had been a whole year since Kyra had come back into our lives finally and I had to admit, it had been a lot more rocky than Ray and I had anticipated. Since the whole Tristan incident in California, it was almost like our daughter was this cynical shell of who she used to be. For the first month of being back she would barely speak to us, only when one of us would come to comfort her each night when she would have her reoccurring nightmares. Other than that, she would keep to herself, either laying in bed for most of the day or sitting in the garden chain smoking cigarettes.

It was obvious that our daughter was lost and depressed. Everything she had known had been ripped away from her, leaving her mourning the life she used to have. Ray and I had ended up deciding to intervene, hiring a psychologist to help Kyra through the pain she was feeling. It was from that where Kyra was diagnosed with depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, mainly taking the form of her nightmares. The psychologist had ended up prescribing Zoloft to help stop the nightmares and her depression symptoms, while Kyra also went to see her once a week for counselling sessions to give her a safe place to discuss everything that had happened.

For the couple months after, Kyra had been rather calm and compliant. She went to school, came home and did what she was told. She had even started blading with Dranzer, going with Ray to the BBA headquarters and practicing with Matt, Stella and Thomas. Kenny and Emily had ended up being called back to New York in order to help Judy with some new Beyblade designs which made it so Victor had to leave his spot on the Blade Breakers 2.0 in order to go with his parents. This spot, much to Ray and I's surprise, ended up being taken by Kyra. Just from watching her it was obvious that her therapy was helping. She no longer felt fear when wielding her blade. Instead that fear was replaced with confidence and a desire for perfection, one characteristic of mine I constantly saw in her.

It wasn't until a few months ago that we noticed a shift in her personality. She had become more defiant, constantly coming home late and not telling us where she had been. She was still attending school but putting in the bare minimum, barely passing and not seeming to care when we addressed it. The only thing she really seemed to still have a motivation for was blading, always showing up for practice and being an example for her team, but disappearing immediately after practice was finished, especially the times when Ray wouldn't be present.

This night was one of those nights. It was April tenth, the day of Ray and I's anniversary. We had officially been together nineteen years and since it was the first year we had Kyra back under our roof, Ray had decided we should celebrate since we hadn't for so many years. He had ended up leaving training in Tyson's hands to surprise me at my office, taking me to the field we used to train in so often at the beginning of our relationship, before Ray had gotten pregnant. He had packed a picnic, making it so we stayed out their for hours reminiscing on our years together and showing our love for each other in the most intimate ways.

When Kyra had been missing, Ray had very little interest in having sex, something that had caused quite a strain on our relationship. But since Kyra's return, it was hard for the two of us to keep our hands off of each other. It had gotten to the point where Kyra had actually addressed us, apparently being able to hear us due to her newly acquired nekojin senses. I couldn't help but laugh when she'd come to the breakfast table one morning saying "Look, I'm glad you guys love each other and all, but could you please cool it on the sex? Having to listen to the two of you pant and moan while I'm sad and single is making me wish I wasn't part nekojin." It was the one time I could see a glimpse of our Kyra in there.

By the time the two of us had come home it was almost eleven pm and Kyra was no where to be found.

"Jeremiah, have you seen Kyra today? She's not in her room and it's pretty late." Ray frowned.

Our elderly butler shook his head. "No Master Ray, I have not seen Miss Kyra since this morning when I drove her to school. She had not contacted me after practice, therefore I assumed she was safe with the two of you."

I growled. This wasn't the first time this had happened. Regardless how much we gave her trouble for it, Kyra continued to pull disappearing acts, sometimes not coming home until after midnight. There had even been occasions when she hadn't come home at all, leaving us up and worrying until she finally decided to text us to let us know she was fine. It had gotten to the point where I was so close to hiring Ian to follow her and find out what the hell she was doing that made it so she was out so late.

I called her cellphone, only to get her message machine multiple times before I stopped trying. "Dammit Kyra. Where the hell are you?"

 _ **Kyra's P.O.V**_

Music pounded in the club as I swayed to the beat, a glass of vodka in my hand as I lost myself in the sound. My usually loud mind was silenced by the alcohol in my system and the only thought in my head was 'How can I keep this high going?'.

For the past year my life had been a shit show, being in and out of therapy, on antidepressants and trying to pretend I was getting better just to please my dads. In reality, I was miserable. Although the nightmares had been quieted by my medication I had felt lifeless on it, like I had no personality. It was like everything was grey and I couldn't feel anything. That was until I started blading again. Blading gave me a sense of power and exhilaration, something I hadn't felt since I had been writing music, before everything happened. After feeling that I was hungry for more. I needed to feel that high and I needed it all the time.

Three months ago I had flushed what remained of my prescription, deciding to turn to what I had used to use to calm my nightmares, marijuana. I had ended up finding a dealer through some lowlife that hung around the BBA headquarters, a guy by the name of Trent. He was twenty three, originally from America but had randomly decided to move to Japan, working as a bouncer for a club in Shibuya while dealing drugs on the side. Originally I had planned to just buy from him till one night he invited me out. He knew how old I was and knew who I was but invited me out anyways, taking me to some dive bar. It was amazing how easy it was to drink underage when you were the child of two famous bladers/one of Japan's top business men. All I had to do was say I was a Hiwatari and people would turn a blind eye. I had ended up accepting his offer, drinking with him until we were making out on the dancefloor. I ended up going back to his place that night, getting so high I didn't care to let my dads know where I was or even really react to how mad they were. I had been down and felt so numb for so long, I didn't want the high to stop.

Trent and I ended up sleeping together, both of us knowing we weren't in it for a relationship. I was in it for the drugs while he enjoyed being able to say he had Kyra Hiwatari on his arm. Our 'relationship' revolved around going to clubs, getting so high we couldn't feel anything, then going back to his place to have sex until I had to leave the next morning. I wasn't proud of it, but at that point I'd rather be feeling that than nothing at all. Having sex with Trent also meant I spent less time thinking of Tristan, someone I still couldn't get out of my head.

I danced around at the club, feeling an arm snake around my waist and a pair of lips push hard against my neck.

"How about we get out of here? I have a special present for you back at the apartment, sexy." Trent said seductively.

I answered his question by turning myself around and roughly pressing my lips against his, my body starving to be touched and my mind craving more substances to keep the high going.

We stumbled back to his apartment, continuing our makeout session upon entering his place. It was just a room with a kitchen and a bathroom, a mattress on the floor instead of a bed. It was dingy but I didn't really care. Trent gave me the fix I needed so I didn't judge. He roughly pushed me to the bed, pulling my tank top over my head to stare at me in my lace bra.

"You are so sexy, you know that?" He moaned, starting to try and kiss my neck before I put my hand on his chest.

"You said you had a special present. It's not sex, right? Cause that's not very special." I interrupted.

He rolled his eyes. "Always have to get straight to the point, hmm Hiwatari?"

"You know it. Now what is it?" I asked, sitting up to look around.

He walked over to the kitchen, coming back with a bag of pills. "You'd complained that weed wasn't helping other than for sleep so I thought you might want to try these. MDMA, gives you a trip but makes you feel amazing. Also threw some Adderall in another bag for more daily use since you said days were starting to feel really low."

I tried to grab for the bag of pills, him pulling it away from me with a smirk. "Ah, ah, ah. These don't come for free. Plus these probably aren't great to take at night, try them out tomorrow and see how you feel. But for now.." He tossed the pill bag on the side of the bed, pushing me down again in a lustful kiss.

I complied, sleeping with him only for the pills and the fact that my body was craving to be touched. It wasn't passionate or full of love like it had been with Tristan, but it kept my mind occupied and my body feeling satisfied which was all I could ask for.

It was three in the morning when I finally made it back home. I'd ended up smoking a few bowls from Trent's bong before calling a cab to drive me home, ready to pass out in a dreamless weed induced sleep. I slowly opened the door, trying hard to make no noise as I snuck into the Hiwatari mansion. I was almost in the clear until I heard my father clearing his throat in the living room.

"Kyra Mei Hiwatari, get in here. Now." His voiced boomed.

Shit. This wasn't the first time I had been in trouble for this. Honestly, this was becoming a daily occurrence. I would sneak off, would come home late, Kai would yell, Ray would try and calmly explain how my actions affected the two of them, I would backtalk and normally it ended with me walking away, pretending I couldn't hear them as I went to bed. To be completely honest, I really didn't care what they thought anymore. I loved my dads but they couldn't help me. No one could.

I sighed, dragging my feet into the living room to see Ray and Kai sitting on the couch in front of the TV together. Both looked exhausted but Ray's face was painted with worry while Kai's crimson eyes flashed with rage.

"Where the hell were you and don't you dare try to tell me you were with Matt and Stella again. Baba already called Uncle Max and he said he hadn't seen you." Kai growled.

"I was out." I shrugged.

"No. I'm not accepting that as an answer anymore. You tell me where you were right now or else." He demanded.

"Or else what? You'll take my things away? Ban me from leaving the house? News flash dad, you've tried that before and it doesn't work. You can't control me." I hissed.

"What has gotten into you lately? You were doing so well up until three months ago. Now you're disobeying us, shrugging off your responsibilities. You had your Baba and I worried sick." He scolded.

"Kyra, if something is wrong you can tell us. Do you need to see Doctor Amari again? You're obviously acting out for a reason. Tell us what we can do." Ray pleaded.

"No I don't need to see the shrink again. Did you guys ever think that maybe I'm too fucked up to be helped? Maybe I'm sick of being treated like I'm something that needs to be fixed. Maybe this is just who I am now and you should both get used to it. I'm turning eighteen next month. You can't control me anymore." I sneered.

"That's it. Go to your room. That is no way to speak to us and you are not going unpunished for this. You're grounded. Two weeks, school and blading practice only." Kai snapped.

I growled, turning and stomping up the stairs. I didn't care how angry they were, I just wanted to feel something and the only way I could do it was with my current lifestyle.

I stormed into my room, throwing off my jeans and tank top to change into a pair of loose sweats and a t-shirt. I threw myself on the bed, pulling the covers over me as I felt my high start to wear off. I then heard the creek of my door opening, turning my crimson eyes to meet my Baba's gold ones, still filled with worry as he approached my bed and sat down.

"Kyra, what is going on? That was not you down there. I know my Kyra Mei and that girl that was down there? I don't know who she is. I know this year has been really hard and I know you're frustrated, but your father and I are just worried about you and want what's best for you. I don't know what's going on or what you're out there doing, but for my sake and your father's it needs to stop. I know the old Kyra is in there somewhere. I'd really like to see her again soon." He said quietly.

I sighed, rolling over to turn away from him.

He got up off the bed, leaning over and kissing the top of my head. "Goodnight sweetheart. Here's hoping you have a better attitude tomorrow."

I heard my door close, allowing me to be alone again. As much as Ray pleaded and Kai threatened, the old Kyra was gone. The Kyra that was lied to, used, thrown away and taken advantage of had been broken into a million pieces after Tristan. I didn't know who I was anymore, but I sure as hell knew I would never be that person again.


	2. Eyes Closed

_**Finally getting this one up! Sorry this one took so long. A lot of life things have been bogging me down, making it so this was the last thing on my mind for a bit. But now I'm back and Kyra is spiraling more, because why not hit rock bottom before things get better? This chapter is named after the song 'Eyes Closed' by Halsey, a song that I feel very much represents how Kyra is feeling about Tristan. Remember to leave reviews letting me know what you liked, disliked, as it helps me know what to keep doing and what to improve on!**_

 _ **Eyes Closed**_

 _ **Kyra's P.O.V**_

My dad really wasn't joking around when he had given me a two week grounding. He had pretty much made it impossible for me to get anywhere, making sure Jeremiah drove me to and from school, Ray being at every single Beyblade practice, even going as far as to hire security to be outside the house 24/7 and not let me pass if they saw me alone. I was on total lockdown and was getting more and more irritable as the days passed. Thankfully Trent had given me enough pills to last for a while, but not being able to go out anymore was starting to take a toll on me.

I didn't understand why, but my body was reacting poorly to the Adderall pills. For the first few days I had felt great. I was blading better, my mind felt active and my body felt like it was on this energetic high that I didn't want to get off of. But after a week I could hardly sleep, leaving me feeling exhausted throughout most days. Just getting through the school day was hard, let alone blading afterwards. My performance was starting to go down and I could tell my team mates were taking notice. To add to the exhausted, my depression had come back in full force, leaving me feeling like there was a weight held over me all the time. The depression caused me to be more irritable than I already was, making it so I was horrible to be around.

After a really terrible practice, Ray and I had come home, him starting to cook dinner as I went and laid down in my room as an attempt to get some sort of sleep. I was so close to finally falling asleep when there was a knock at my door. I growled, turning my attention to see Kai standing at the door with a neutral expression.

"Dinner is almost ready if you wanted to come down and help. Baba made your favourite." He stated, referring to my love of fettuccini alfredo.

"Not hungry." I sighed, pulling my blankets up to my face. Lately no matter what I tried to eat, nothing looked appetizing. I hadn't ate since the day before but still didn't feel hungry.

He came over, taking a seat beside me. "Is everything okay? You've seemed off this week. This is the third time you've refused dinner." His tone reflected his concern, something I rarely heard from my father.

"I'm fine. I'm just really tired. I haven't slept very well in a while and I just really need to get some sleep." I murmured, my eyes feeling heavy just thinking about my exhaustion.

He frowned, moving his hand to rest on my forehead. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No. I'm just tired. I'll eat when I feel like eating." I snapped, moving away from his touch.

He sighed, getting up and starting to walk away from the bed. "Alright…just let us know if you need anything. I know you're mad about being grounded, but it's for your own good Kyra. I just want to keep you safe."

The door closed, leaving me alone again. I knew they just wanted to help me but I knew that they wanted to old me back. That was something I just didn't think I could give them.

My attempts at sleep kept getting interrupted, first by Kai and now by my phone which kept going off. I picked it up to reveal it was Zane who for some reason had called me six times in a row. At first we had kept in contact after I'd permanently moved to Japan but as things went on and I just kept feeling worse I started to distance myself from him, ignoring all of his attempts at communication. This time was no different, turning my phone off so I could focus on finally getting some rest.

My grounding was finally up, meaning I was free to go where I wanted. I just had to make it through school and practice then I could run off to Shibuya to hopefully shake off the feelings I'd been having for the past week. This day was probably the worst I'd felt so far. It was getting hard just to keep my eyes open in class and when I was slightly awake, I couldn't focus on anything going on around me. My depression had me feeling like there was a permanent pit in my stomach that no amount of happiness could banish, leaving me feeling empty. I was just hoping I could make it to tonight.

I was sluggishly packing up my things when Matt and Stella approached me. So far they'd been the closest I've gotten to making real friends here since they were only a year younger than me and we bladed together, which meant we spent a lot of time together. Matt had ended up redeeming himself quite a lot since our first encounter, actually being a very friendly and chill guy outside of blading. When he was blading he was probably the most competitive person I'd ever come across. When comparing the twins it was hard to believe they were related, Stella having such an opposite personality. According to Ray, Stella was more comparable to Max in his teens. She was bubbly and happy majority of the time, always bringing this light hearted perspective to everything she did. Sometimes her optimism got on my nerves, but she was too nice to ever really be mad at.

"Ready to get your ass kicked again, Hiwatari?" Matt smirked, referring to my current losing streak against him. Since I felt off, my blading had been off which meant that my normal winning streak against Matt had gone down hill in the past two weeks.

I sighed, putting away the last of my school books. "You've just been lucky cause of how shitty I've been feeling."

Stella frowned, her purple eyes meeting mine. "Are you sure you're okay enough to practice? You can take a break for today if you need to. Burning yourself out isn't going to help you or the team."

"I appreciate the thought but honestly, I'm fine." I sighed. As much as I appreciated everyone's worry, it was really starting to bug me the amount of times I had heard 'Are you okay?' or 'Do you need anything?' in the past few weeks.

She shrugged, pulling on her jacket. "If you say so. Ready to head out?"

The three of us tugged on our jackets, getting into Jeremiah's car to head to practice. For the end of April it was pretty warm but still cool enough to need a light jacket closer to the end of the day.

Practice had gone as I expected, I lost a couple times, Matt spent the rest of the practice bragging. I knew I wasn't putting everything I had into it so it was funny to me how proud he felt from beating me. I wasn't even using a quarter of my talents. I ended up leaving earlier than the rest, my body not able to take anymore physical exertion. As I got ready to leave I heard Ray's light footsteps approach me, stopping when he was at least a few feet behind me.

"I know you're there." I sighed.

He chuckled, coming up to stand beside me. "You're getting really good with your heightened senses."

"Depends who defines them as good. Being able to hear everything that's going on in the school when I'm trying to focus on one teacher is becoming a bit infuriating." I admitted.

"That's something you'll learn how to tune out soon enough. Most nekojins get to do that when they're younger so…" He started to say, stopping himself before he got much further.

"I know, I was kidnapped so I didn't know I was a nekojin so I never learned any of these skills. Added to the very long list of things I missed out on or had fucked up by Voltaire. May as well just stop trying to make up for it at this point." I huffed, scuffing my combat boot against the ground.

"One, we mentioned language. I know you're frustrated, but swearing is something I want you to cut down on. Two, yes there are things you can't make up for. You can't make up for your lost childhood or not learning certain things until now, but you need to stop tearing yourself up for it as much as I need to realize to not bring it up. There isn't much we can do besides enjoy the time we have together now and figure things out as we go along. I know you're frustrated and still feeling a lot of what has happened, but your father and I are trying to help. We need you to try with us." Ray explained.

I looked him in the eyes, giving him a challenging look. "I know you both want me to be this perfect daughter that you've always dreamed of but it isn't going to happen. This is who I am and I don't need either of your help to try and change that. I'm broken, Baba. No one can fix that."

I started to walk out of the BBA Headquarters before he spoke again, stopping me in my tracks.

"You may think that, but you're not. Yes, you've experienced a lot of hardship in your almost eighteen years of life, but you are far from broken, Kyra. You may be a little bit torn, but in no way would I ever consider my daughter broken. I've seen you be strong through a lot of things, I know that part of you is still in there somewhere." He protested.

I turned my head to look at him, giving him a sad smile. "You may think that but you'd think differently if you really saw what goes on in my mind." I uttered, starting to walk away again.

"Where are you going?" He yelled.

"Away from here." I shot back, letting the doors of the BBA slam on my way out.

I was back in the Shibuya club scene yet again, already pretty high for it being ten at night. I had ended up taking some of the MDMA with Trent and his stoner friends and I had to admit, he was right about it being a hell of a trip. All of my senses were more amplified than usual, but in a good way. It wasn't as chaotic as it felt with my nekojin senses, it just felt more comfortable and enjoyable. The lights of the club were bright, the bass from the music was pounding through my body, I had a random glass of liquor in my hand and had Trent grinding behind me, kissing my neck as our bodies swayed together. After two long weeks of feeling physically exhausted and mentally trapped, I felt free and it was exhilarating.

After a few hours of getting lost in my surroundings, I finally decided to look at my phone to see the damage of tonight. Five missed calls and three angry texts from Kai, seven missed calls and five worried texts from Ray and two missed calls from Zane. I also notice a notification that looked foreign, but familiar as well. Two missed calls, a voicemail and three texts from Tristan Daniels.

My heart sped up, rushing to the bathroom and leaving Trent to listen to the voicemail. I ducked into a stall, quickly putting my phone up to my ear.

 _"Kyra…I know we haven't talked since everything went down and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for everything. Baby…baby, I fucked up. I'm not just saying this cause I'm drunk as fuck, I miss you like hell. Things have been so crazy since you left…I know I was an ass and I know I don't deserve you but maybe…maybe you miss me too?"_

Although he was slurring and sounded wasted, something about his message sparked something in me. Could he really be serious? Did he really want me back? It wasn't till I checked the text messages that I saw what his true motive was.

12:35 AM – _babe, I miss you. i miss you and I together. every other girl ive been with doesn't compare to your sexy self_

12:50 AM – _I bet you still look amazing. want to send me a picture to remind me how beautiful that body of yours is?_

1:30 AM – _babe I am so fucked. i miss drunk sex with you, not these random girls_

My eyes flashed with anger. I had spent the past almost nine months heart broken over this boy, the only boy I'd ever been truly interested in and loved, and after he broke my heart he decides to come back into my life just to tell me how much he missed having sex with me. Yet another person trying to use me just to get what they want.

I stormed out of the bathroom, taking a shot of vodka from the bar and downing it before grabbing Trent's hand.

"Babe, what's wrong? I thought we were having a good time?" He drawled. His eyes were dilated, meaning he'd probably done cocaine while I was in the bathroom but I couldn't care less at this moment.

"We're going to have a better time at home. Also, never call me that again." I snapped, dragging him along with me out of the club.

Normally it was Trent who instigated the sex, but this time it was me. Making sure he was using protection first, god forbid I get pregnant with this cokehead's baby, I climbed on top of him, shoving my lips hungrily against his. I grinded my hips into his, showing that I wanted to start this quickly.

"Damn, someone really wants some action tonight. Maybe we should have you on Molly more often?" He slurred, tangling his fingers in my long raven hair and gripping my ass with his other hand.

In reality, I didn't care if it was him or if it was some other random. I needed to get Tristan out of my head and at this point, I was willing to sleep with anyone to do it. He wanted to have sex with me? Too bad. I would have given him anything, even my own life, to make him happy and what did he do? He fucked the closest thing to him and abandoned me. Two can play at that game.

As hard as I tried, Tristan was the only thing I could think of while sleeping with Trent. His voice, his touch, the way his blue eyes would stare into mine, almost as if they were starring into my soul. As much as I wanted to focus on what was happening, all I could think of was Tristan's hands on me, making me feel like I was so precious to him.

After finishing, Trent drifted off to sleep as I laid beside him and choked out a sob. As much as I hated him and was pissed off about him contacting me, hearing Tristan's voice again brought everything back. All the love, the passion, the feeling of having a person that was the physical embodiment of a home. My heart ached for him, it ached for that feeling back. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing my body to go to sleep and shut off the agony I was feeling.

 _ **Kai's P.O.V**_

"Dammit Kyra, where the hell are you this time?!" I yelled, slamming my phone down so hard I wouldn't be shocked if I broke the screen.

Ray, sitting on the leather sofa of my study, gave me a nervous look. I always felt bad when Ray had to see me lash out like this. I knew it scared him, but when our daughter had been out all night and still wasn't home by the afternoon, I knew that he was understanding of my fury.

"I know you're worried for her, love. I am too but getting angry about this won't fix anything. Did you try seeing if her location tracking is on her phone?" He suggested.

"Like always, she has it off." I huffed.

"Well, Max says that Matt and Stella haven't heard anything from her either. Should we be calling the police? I mean, she's never left home for this long before. What if she's hurt?" He worried. I could tell Ray had been giving into his anxieties as the time passed. This was the longest he'd been apart from Kyra since the kidnapping last May. Losing her yet again would destroy him.

"I'm going to call Ian and see if he can get on this. Once we find her you better believe she's going to be grounded for life." I growled, starting to type Ian's number into my phone.

"Kai…do you ever wonder if we're really doing what's right for her? Talking to her yesterday…she just seems so lost, like she's searching for something to make her whole again. That light that used to be in her eyes…I haven't seen it in so long. Maybe we aren't doing enough. Maybe we're the reason she's doing this?" His eyes started to fill with tears, a sight that still broke my heart after so long.

"Love, don't you ever think that." I hushed, joining him on the couch to pull him into my embrace for comfort. "You have been the best father to her. Hell, if it weren't for you being here I probably would have kicked her out at this point."

He chuckled, nuzzling into my embrace. "Hey, I know you love her too. I can tell this is affecting you just as much as me. But you have to admit, she's producing some standard 'teenage Kai' behaviour. Sneaking off by herself, not relying on anyone. Maybe this really is all your fault?" He joked.

I gave him a light glare, shaking my head. "I can't control what genes she got. Maybe this is your fault for not passing enough of your morality on? Just imagine if she had turned out more like you. We'd have an angel."

"Are you saying that our daughter is a devil spawn, therefore making you the devil?" He teased, lightly bumping me with his shoulder.

I chuckled, giving him a light nudge back. "I think that was you that said it."

He shook his head with a laugh. "Alright, alright. Enough with the jokes. Go call Ian and see if he can track down our daughter. I'll think of ways to make sure you don't kill her when she steps back into this house."

I smirked, watching my lover leave as I dialed Ian's number yet again. Regardless how angry I was at her, I missed my daughter. I wanted her home and was about to go to any means possible to do it.


	3. What's Wrong?

**_So this is going to be a long one. As a note, whenever you see text like this_** " _from_ _now on"_ _ **that will mean that the character is speaking Russian. Makes it easier than having to translate words and such. I think I might still do the pet names in other languages, but any major dialogue will be written like that. This chapter is named after the song "What's Wrong?" by Pvris. I feel this song perfectly represents Kyra's feelings about herself after the past two years, so much so that this song will come back in a future chapter as a potential song she has written (slight spoiler I guess?) I also changed points of view three times within the chapter, just to convey everything I wanted to in this chapter the way I wanted it to be understood. Remember, reviews are awesome and I love reading them so leave one if you'd like! Hope everyone enjoys!**_

 **What's Wrong?**

 _ **Kai's P.O.V**_

It had officially been two days since Kyra had last been home and to say I was getting frustrated was an understatement. No calls, no texts, no anything. We hadn't heard from our daughter at all since she had left Ray at the BBA Headquarters and although I knew he was trying to put up a front, Ray was panicking.

Ian had flown out from Russia right after I had called, arriving early the next morning to start his search. So far Kyra had made herself difficult to find. No transactions coming out of her bank card, no recent posts or any activity on social media. Even her phone that we knew she had on her was turned off at the time Ian had tried searching for it with some high tech system he wouldn't explain to me.

"Well, if your daughter doesn't want to be found she's doing a damn good job. There aren't any friends she'd go and stay with?" Ian asked.

"She doesn't really have many friends here…at least none she tells us about." Ray murmured.

"No places she normally goes?" He asked.

"Don't you think if we knew that we would have looked there?" I snapped.

"Easy, just thought I'd ask. Well I'll try again in an hour, see if maybe she's turned her phone on by then. I can't search when it's off, but the minute it's on I can probably trace it. For now, I have some other business I need to take care of for Spencer while here." Ian commented, starting to walk out of the room.

"You're doing other work while our daughter is missing?" I scoffed.

"Hey, Spencer is paying me to find dirt on some big shot banker that's framing a client of his and he's paying me to do it. Technically was going to fly out here in the next few days to do that but I came early as a favour to you. May as well kill two birds with one stone and find both people at the same time." He shrugged, leaving Ray and I alone in my study once again.

Ray sighed, flopping back on the sofa. "I swear your daughter is going to give me grey hair by the time I'm thirty five."

I smirked, going to sit beside him. "Why is she only my daughter when she's misbehaving?"

"I thought we agreed on the fact that she is teenage Kai 2.0?" He grinned.

I shook my head with a sigh. "Even I wouldn't have gone this far if my parents were still alive back then. I want to get what's going through her head. Is she mad at us? Herself? Why the disappearing act?"

"I don't know. Maybe both? Doctor Amari did say that things could get bad again around the year anniversary of the trauma. In two weeks it'll be a year since she was kidnapped again…" Ray pondered.

That's right, it had been a year. To be honest, it had been a bit naïve of us to believe everything was fine up until a few months ago. We had hoped that a diagnosis, counselling and medication was enough to fix our daughter but in reality, it was just a temporary band-aid. As much as we both wanted to believe we were there, we'd never openly asked her how she felt about any of it and knowing her, she went along with everything at first just to make us happy. The acting out was something I couldn't wrap my head around, but maybe Ray was right. Maybe it was her reaction to hurting.

The doorbell rang suddenly, breaking the two of us from our thoughts. Ray rushed to the door, in hopes that it was Kyra or something related to her. I was surprised to hear my name called after a couple of minutes.

"Uh, Kai? We have some visitors that might be able to help." He called.

I walked into the front foyer, surprised to see Zane and Jason standing beside Ray with suitcases.

"Hey ! Surprise!" Jason chimed.

Ray, being the type of person he was, invited them in and sat them down at the kitchen table as he made tea. Jeremiah brought their suitcases up to the guest rooms as I starred at the two twenty-somethings in confusion.

"So you both flew to Japan because Kyra has been neglecting your calls?" I asked Zane doubtfully.

"Yes. Well, that's not fully the reason why. There's a bigger reason that we'll tell you once Kyra is here for us to announce it to her, but I found it weird she started ignoring my calls. It started happening-" He tried to explain.

"Three months ago?" I asked.

Zane nodding, accepting a cup of tea as Ray placed cups in front of the two before taking his seat beside me. "It was like this random flip of a switch. I mean, she hadn't told me much about her life here whenever we talked, but she'd always accept my calls and listen to what was going on with us. Then just one day in March, a little after Tristan's birthday it was like she dropped off the face of the earth. No calls, no texts. Any time I've called she's either let it ring, had it automatically go to voicemail or has had her phone turned off. I was thinking of coming out here anyways but the news we got was too big to wait for her to finally return my calls."

"And you?" I turned my attention to Jason. Kyra had said how close him and Tristan were, leading me to believe they'd stopped being friends after the break up.

"Regardless what Tristan did, Kyra is still my friend. She didn't deserve him treating her like that and that was part of the reason I actually haven't been hanging out with Tristan much anymore. I moved out of our apartment and in with my girlfriend, leaving him to do whatever the hell he wants. I still check in once and a while since at the end of the day, he's still my friend, I just can't handle him going from girl to girl when he hurt Kyra. She wouldn't talk to me after everything happened, insisting I knew when I didn't, so I wanted to come here to tell her that wasn't true. Plus I'm involved with said big news." He explained, grinning near the end.

"Speaking of the news, where is Kyra? This is something that's time sensitive so the sooner she knows the better we can prepare." Zane asked.

"She's been gone for the past two days. We're not really sure where but she ran off Friday evening and we haven't seen her since." Ray mumbled.

Zane picked up his phone, typing a bit before holding it up, showing his map with a small purple dot about an hour away from us. "There she is."

Ray and I starred with our eyes wide, looking at each other, then back to the phone.

"How?" Ray exclaimed.

"The wonderful world of Find Friends." Jason chimed.

"But we'd been looking at that and found nothing!" I growled.

"Probably because she has her location sharing turned off for the two of you. But for us, since she thinks we're still in the States, she probably left it on thinking there was no point to turn it off." Zane explained.

Ray stood up, about to walk towards the front door. "Well, let's go get her! If she's not coming home we're bringing her home."

Zane stood up as well, Jason following as the two stopped Ray in front of the door.

"I don't think that's a good idea. If you guys go she's just going to rebel against you more. Trust me, I've known Kyra and have seen some of the shit she pulled on Justin. Even though he was a dick and deserved it, any time he tried to get Kyra to do anything she'd go against him, doing the complete opposite. If you both decide to go and get her she's just going to run again. If we do it might look better and we can maybe talk her into at least considering coming back." Jason explained. That was probably the most serious thing I'd ever heard come out of his mouth.

"But-" Ray tried to start.

"Ray, I think for once we should listen to them. They know her." I sighed, putting my hand on his shoulder.

Zane gave me a smile and a nod. "Trust us, we know what we're doing. We'll let you know if anything happens but we'll try and have her back before the day ends. We have a rental car so we can get there."

The two left, leaving Ray starring at me in disbelief.

"I can't believe you just let someone else handle something surrounding our daughter. Especially when those two are only twenty two and twenty. For you to give them control of the situation you must have some sort of trust in them." He gasped.

"I don't know if I trust them but I can see they care for her. Back when we were teenagers, the only reason I turned out alright was because of you, Max and Tyson. She needs that and I can tell those two are that for her." I said softly.

"Wow, Kai Hiwatari showing his soft side! I never thought I'd see the day." Ray smirked.

"Oh shut up. Let's let Ian know and get ready for the hurricane that is our daughter to come home." I sighed.

 _ **Kyra's P.O.V**_

It was Sunday night and I had now been at Trent's for two full days. After Friday night, I had decided I didn't want to go home to face Kai yelling at me and Ray saying how disappointed he was. I had settled with the fact that they couldn't help me so I should just save them the effort and go do my own thing. Things were going alright for me here anyways, so why change them?

I hadn't been sober in almost three weeks, either being on Adderall, smoking weed, drinking too much or being on the MDMA pills, and I thought I was feeling great. Until that night.

Trent and his friends were doing god knows what in his apartment while I was getting ready in the bathroom. I had started the day off smoking, dropping MDMA in the afternoon, and had just had another to prepare to go out to the club. I had thought I was feeling great and happy, feeling the euphoric effects I was used to until we got to the club and I started to drink.

It started off with my mood dropping. I went from being in this happy, high mind state to feeling my stomach drop and my mind go numb. It then turned to my stomach starting to churn, causing me to leave Trent's side to sprint to the bathroom, making it just in time to empty the contents of my stomach. My heart was racing and my breathing was getting faster, almost feeling like my lungs couldn't take in enough air. I couldn't tell if I was having a panic attack or overdosing. I stumbled out of the bathroom and up to Trent, pulling on his sleeve.

"W-we need to leave. I don't feel well and we need to go home." I stammered.

He gave me a weird look. "What? The night has barely started yet. We can't leave yet."

"I-I feel sick and can't breath. I need to go home." I cried, tears of frustration building in my eyes.

"You can leave, but I'm staying. You were the one who was using the whole day, why should I have to leave because you fucked up?" He scoffed.

I growled, giving him a swift kick to the crotch before starting to walk away. "You can go fuck yourself and you can bet your ass you're never sleeping with me again."

I went out of the club, not getting far before stumbling forward to land on my knees, throwing up on the side walk. My body felt so heavy and tired while my mind was panicking. I couldn't die. I couldn't be overdosing. I couldn't. I'd break Baba and Dad's hearts.

That's when I felt a warm piece of clothing get wrapped around me. I looked to see it was a green zip up hoodie, looking up to see it's owner was none other than Zane.

"Z-Zane? What?" I asked before starting to gag again, still feeling my stomach churning.

"Shh, just get it all out." He whispered, rubbing my back as I got sick again. I didn't even understand how I could throw up this much, but it was making me feel better.

"Damn Hiwatari, you really fucked up didn't you?" I heard a voice remark.

I turned back to see Jason, standing over the two of us with a knowing smirk. The two of them helped me to my feet, starting to guide me slowly to a car parked across the road.

"How did you guys get here and where are we going?" I mumbled, leaning my head on Jason's shoulder.

"Well, we flew in and we're taking you home. I happen to know of two people who are worried sick and would really love to have you under their roof again." Zane said.

"No! I can't go home! Dad and Baba are going to be so mad at me!" I protested, trying to run away only to fall on my knees yet again. Trying to run while drugged up and drunk? Not a good idea.

Jason came over, pulling me up yet again and keeping a tighter hold on me as we walked up to the car. "Don't worry about that. We need to get you home and sobered up. I don't know what the hell you had, but you look like real shit right now."

I gave him a piercing glare. "That is very rude."

"But, it is very true. Look for yourself." He answered, sitting me down in the back seat of the car and giving me his phone to look in the camera.

He was right, I looked terrible. My eyes were blood shot, making my entire eyeball look blood red. My skin looked dull, dark circles taking form under my eyes. My long black hair, normally well kept and straight, was frizzy and tangled up. I hadn't even paid attention to my appearance in these past few days, I just focused on getting high.

Jason got in the driver's seat as Zane slid into the back seat next to me, offering me a bottle of water.

"I think you're going to need this. Might help to calm the panic a bit. That high isn't going to fade for a while though." He commented.

"How do you know what I'm on?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow at him.

"I think you forget that I sold and did drugs in my early teens. I know an ecstasy high when I see one. Actually saw someone die from it." He frowned. I knew that was a part of his life that he was most ashamed of, very rarely talking about it unless necessary.

"I'm sorry…I really fucked up." I sighed, putting my head in my hands.

"You did. If you weren't careful, tonight could've gone a lot worse. I don't know what's going on that you feel you need to use, but whatever it is we can work through together. Jason is here for you, your dads are here for you. Why you always feel the need to deal with things alone is beyond me, but you have people here that want to see you succeed and want to help you do that. Stop pushing us out. More importantly, stop pushing your dads out. You need people Kyra. Whether you like it or not, you need us." He acknowledged.

"I'm sorry…" I apologized again, leaning my head on his shoulder.

He put his arm around me, patting my shoulder. "It's okay. We all make bad decisions, just promise me you'll never put yourself at risk like that again. I can't handle seeing another person I care about die from drug use." He said, his voice cracking a bit. I could see the pain on his face as he referred to his friend and most importantly, his mom. I didn't realize I had that big of an effect on him or that I was even that important to him.

"I promise." I whispered, closing my eyes to try and stop the world from spinning.

By the time we got home, my stomach had stopped doing flips but my breathing was still irregular, my heart beat still racing and my mind going a million miles a minute. Partly cause of the cocktail of drugs and alcohol in my body, but partly terrified of the consequences of my two day bender and not letting my dads know where I was. They didn't know about anything from the past three months. Telling them I was on drugs and drinking almost every day? I was afraid Kai was going to lock me in my room and not let me out till I was thirty.

Zane went in first, leaving Jason and I outside to wait for the okay to come in. He was hoping to smooth things over so my dads wouldn't freak out on me, but honestly I'd be shocked if Kai even let me come in the house after he found out what I had done.

 _ **Kai's P.O.V**_

Ray and I's heads turned from the TV in the living room to look at the door opening, seeing Zane slip through. He was by himself, his face looking distraught. I felt my heart drop, expecting the worst. Was she dead? Refused to come back? Ray rushed up and I followed swiftly behind, both of us giving Zane a questioning look.

"So, she's fine." He reassured us.

"Thank goodness." Ray breathed a sigh of relief.

"But?" I groaned.

"But she's extremely high and drunk right now. She's on a high level of ecstacy, something she probably won't come down from for the next four hours. I found her throwing up outside of a club in Shibuya, having a panic attack but she could've been close to an overdose if she hadn't have thrown up." He grimaced.

"So help me God, she's going to be more than grounded this time." I growled, narrowing my eyes.

"That's why I've come in here first. Look, I know the first instinct is to get mad at her and punish her. She did something really wrong so why wouldn't that be your first instinct? But as you both probably know, your daughter is hurting. I'm pretty sure tonight wasn't the first time she's used and honestly? I wouldn't be shocked if this is what's been going on with her the past few months. But I know this is happening from a state of pain and confusion. I know because that was me eight years ago. I was hurt by my dad leaving, felt angry because my mom chose drugs over me. I needed something to make the pain go away and I turned to using because it gave me some relief. I don't know what is going through her head, but she obvious is in a lot of pain if she felt the need to be on drugs just to get through it. Just talk to her. Trust me, she'll probably open up to you now if you try." He disclosed.

As much as I was angry, I understood what he was saying. Punishing her would be like telling her that her feelings were wrong to have, something I never wanted to give her the impression of. If we were going to get our daughter back, we were going to have to listen to what she had to say and see why she was doing what she was. I looked over at Ray who was giving a tearful nod to both Zane and I, fully ready to accept whatever was going to happen.

I sighed, running my hand through my slate bangs. "I won't get mad. Just bring her in here. Please."

Zane went outside, coming back in with Jason walking in front of him and his arm around Kyra. Her appearance shocked me. Unkempt hair, blood shot eyes, almost grey looking skin and her under eyes gave off that she hadn't slept recently. She was wearing a loose, wrinkled up black dress with the combat boots she always wore, the scars on her arms and legs exposed. Her eyes met mine, a look of shame and discomfort marring her face. I hadn't seen her look this bad since I had gotten her back from Voltaire and Boris last year.

"I-I'm s-sorry…" She stuttered, tears starting to spill down her cheeks as she tilted her head down.

Ray hurried over to her, bringing her into his embrace and swaying the two of them back and forth as he whispered words that were inaudible to me into her ear. Whatever they were seemed to comfort her as she relaxed into his embrace, even returning it.

I walked up to the two, Ray letting go to let Kyra look at me. Her eyes reflected fear, putting her head down as if she was waiting for the shoe to drop.

I put my hand on her shoulder, pulling her in to give her a tight hug. " _Don't you ever scare me like that again. I love you, baby."_

I felt her start to shake, hearing a small cry come out of her mouth. Speaking Russian to her seemed to induce an emotional response. _"I love you too, papa. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

The embrace ended up lasting longer than expected, causing Ray to join in. In the foyer of my house stood me, my arms around the two people I treasured the most in this world. We didn't have an easy road to get here and it wasn't going to get any easier, but in that moment, having the two people I loved safe in my embrace, things felt pretty good.


	4. Angel On Fire

**_So this is the first chapter where we get to see the true Kyra peaking through and I am really excited to be writing her true to my image of her again. This chapter also refers to a couple of songs that just seemed like songs that Kyra would write and sum up a lot of her experiences. Those songs are 'What's Wrong?' by Pvris (this one depicting her reaction to everything that has happened to her, leaving her feeling empty and lost), 'Anyone Else' also by Pvris (this one summing up some feelings about Tristan, both how she feels about him romantically and also questioning their breakup) and 'Colors' by Halsey that is heavily referred to at the end of the chapter. For Kyra, 'Colors' is meant to call out Tristan, depicting how much he meant to her but how angry and upset she is with him. For the performance at the end, I'm thinking it sounds more like the one Halsey did for the Billboard Woman Of The Year thing that can be found on Youtube._**

 ** _I'm also going to be starting the chapters off with flashbacks from whichever character's point of view it's from to give a bit more incite on what happened while Kyra was separated from Ray and Kai. I thought that showing what happened in their time separated might help to show how much they really need to work through before being able to live cohesively together._**

 ** _The chapter is named after the song 'Angel On Fire' also by Halsey (I feel like Halsey and Pvris just sum up so much of how I think Kyra thinks and feels). The song reflects the change in Kyra since she came to Japan, originally being this person who was sought after due to her music and her status as Ray and Kai's child, to becoming this person no one really talks about who feels a lot of anxiety over the change. I feel like although she has a lot going on, she'd miss the attention and people knowing her so I felt this song fit after her realizations of her actions. Review if you'd like and hopefully everyone enjoys this chapter!_**

 **Angel On Fire**

 _ **Kyra's P.O.V**_

 _Flashback_

 _Noise surrounded me, all voices speaking in a language I barely knew in an urge, fast paced way. I was thirteen years old and had left Russian for the first time to flee to America. I came with nothing, the only possessions I owned being the clothes on my body, only consisting of a black sweater, a pair of ripped up blue jeans and worn down running shoes. From what I understood, we were in a place called 'Michigan' and after getting of the airplane, was waiting in a place they called 'Social Services'. I didn't know what that meant, but the lady who brought me here told me they were finding me a home. I didn't really understand what was happening, but I was happy to be safe and away from the men who had been hurting me for the past five years._

 _I was taken in by a seemingly nice family consisting of a mom, dad and their daughter. They had a pretty house with a spacious yard and fairly big rooms. They showed me where mine would be, introducing me to their daughter before leaving me to get settled._

 _"Hello I'm Kyra. Nice to-" I started before getting cut off._

 _"This is my room. Touch anything in here and you're dead. That's your bed, stay on your side." My new foster sister said. Her name was Tess, she was fifteen and seemed to hate my guts. She was the parents' real daughter and seemed unhappy to have them bring a stranger into her house._

 _The parents seemed nice, but this wasn't what I was thinking when the people who brought me to America said they were finding me a home. Maybe I'd like it here though. Maybe the parents would like me as much as they liked Tess. Maybe they'd keep me._

 _ **One Month Later**_

 _I was just sitting on my bed, reading a book for my English class when I heard stomping feet approached me. I looked up to see Tess standing in front of me, her parents following slowly behind._

 _"You took my necklace. Give it back." She barked._

 _I furrowed my brows in confusion. "Necklace? What are you talking about?"_

 _"My necklace that Daddy bought me. It's gone and I wouldn't have lost it so you have to have taken it." Tess sneered._

 _I looked up at the parents with sad eyes. "I didn't steal any necklace. You can look through my things, I didn't take anything."_  
 _The two of them went through the drawers that were mine, the closet, finally getting to my backpack where the father pulled out a silver chain with a pink heart on the end._

 _My eyes went wide. I'd never seen that before, how was it in my backpack? "I don't know how that got there but I promise it wasn't me!"_

 _"See? I told you she took it. I told you she wasn't good to be here." Tess smirked. She had planted it. She put it in my bag just to get me in trouble._

 _"Kyra…we told you the rules. One was no stealing and you broke it. I'm sorry, but we can't have you staying here if you're going to do that." The father sighed._

 _"What? But I didn't take it! Tess put that there." I cried._

 _"Wow, now you have the audacity to blame me for your poor decision? Shame on you, Kyra." Tess mocked._

 _I couldn't understand why they wouldn't believe me when their daughter had been treating me like dirt the whole month I was here. It was obvious she was behind this but they didn't want to paint their perfect daughter as malicious. An hour later Social Services was picking me up, taking me back to the office to fit me with another foster family. That was the first, and unfortunately not the last foster family I would be kicked out off._

 _ **End Of Flashback**_

It had been a few days since my bender and I was finally starting to feel better. My energy levels were back to normal, I didn't feel nauseous and the irritability I had felt before was gone for the most part. The only things that seemed to still be causing problems were my nightmares and depression. The night before alone I'd been woken up three times by my nightmares, some being about the abbey, some being about last year. One was even from a pretty violent foster home. My depression, on the other hand, was constant. It wasn't a strong feeling of doom, but I felt it enough to know it was still there and could cause problems.

"I want to start therapy again." I stated, picking up my coffee cup that Ray had already filled.

The two of them looked at each other then looked at me with wide eyes. This was the first time I was suggesting any kind of treatment, so I knew it would be a shock to them.

"Are you comfortable telling us why?" Ray asked, taking a seat at the table across from me.

It was just the three of us for breakfast that morning, Zane and Jason still adjusting to the time difference and sleeping in their guest rooms. Kai came over from getting his coffee and toast, sitting beside Ray and paying full attention to me, obviously wanting to see if I had an answer.

"I feel depressed all the time. Not the kind to weigh me down, but enough for me to notice I feel off. I haven't slept without waking up from nightmares since I sobered up. I'm tired of feeling like this. I want to work through this." I explained, taking a sip from my cup as I finished.

"It's okay if you don't want to answer but…what exactly is it that you want to work through? Everything that happened last year?" Ray asked once more.

"That, and a lot of things that led up to it. The abbey wasn't the only thing that broke me before. I was in and out of a lot of foster homes. Some okay, some pretty terrible. I've never talked about that to anyone and I think it's something I need to get out or else I'm just going to continue feeling how I'm feeling." I frowned.

"And how are you feeling right now?" Kai questioned.

"Being completely honest, disposable, used, rejected, lost, and pretty scared. I haven't fully looked at myself in the mirror since August of last year because I can't stand to look at whoever I am at this point. All I see is this girl with a lost look in her eyes, pretending to be someone who doesn't really exist anymore. I see an empty shell of a girl who once acted like she owned the world and I hate who I see. I hate who I am right now." I grimaced.

I looked up to see Kai with a blank look on his face, looking as if he was still processing what I was saying. Ray on the other hand was looking at me with eyes full of sympathy, looking like he was about to say how wrong what I was thinking was before I stopped him.

"Before you say anything, telling me that the things I say about myself aren't true isn't going to help me. That feels like my feelings are being dismissed and that's not what I need. I'm not asking for you to agree with my thoughts, but I would like you to understand where I am coming from when I say them. I want to get back the person I was before last May. The over confident girl who didn't care what other people thought of her, just cared about what she was passionate about and her friends. I want to get to the point where I can make music again. I want to feel like I believe in myself and am happy in my own skin. But right now, I'm not and that's why I want to go back to therapy." I finished.

"Okay. I'll let Doctor Amari know." Kai answered.

"I'd also like us to start doing family therapy." I suggested.

"Family therapy?" Ray questioned.

"How I am is affecting the two of you right now. Plus I know that my kidnapping affected you both in different ways. Baba, you are constantly checking in with me any time I go anywhere. What's going to happen when the second part of the tournament starts and you might not be able to go with us? Or when I eventually move out?" I questioned.

Ray sat quietly for a minute, realizing the error of his ways. Although I knew that he had reason to worry with my actions in the past three months, he had been the same way before hand when I'd gone to school by myself or decided to go on walks. It had even gotten to the point where he would accompany me on the ride to school just to know I was safe. I knew he was worried about me after almost losing me twice, but it was unhealthy for him.

"And how do you think it's affected me?" Kai asked, eyebrow raised.

"You act like you constantly have to protect us. I know that's just how you are and it's just because of how much you love us, but Baba and I are strong on our own. We can protect ourselves. I mean, for seventeen years I was keeping myself alive and Baba was doing his best while I was gone. You focus so much of your time and attention on us, do you really ever do anything for yourself? I mean, even on your birthday you were more focused on getting us home because I was upset. Do you ever really do anything for yourself?" I went on.

He frowned, resting his chin on his hand. He didn't respond to me, leading me to believe he saw truth in my words.

"Thought so. Well, do you both agree that family counselling might be beneficial?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"One session. We'll try one and see how it goes." Kai sighed, leaving the table to clear the breakfast dishes.

I smirked and gave him a nod. "That's all I ask."

By dinner Jason and Zane had been up for a bit, the three of us just catching up as Kai was at work and Ray had been on the phone with his friends back in China. It was nice to be able to fully be myself around friends again. Just laughing with them and talking about life made me feel more like myself than I had since I left California.

"So Ray said you guys came here with big news? Can't be that big if you still haven't told me after three days." I questioned.

"Oh shit, we forgot about that. Zane, want to explain?" Jason suggested.

"So, I potentially got us signed to a label again." Zane smiled.

I sighed, shaking my head. "Zane, I told you when I left last August that I'm not going to be in the band again. I can't be in the same band as Tristan and be fine about it."

"That's good since Tristan isn't in it. After he started down spiraling I took the authority of kicking him out. Alexander also isn't a member anymore since he got some big graphic design gig and told me that he'd rather focus on that. It's just you, Jason and I." He explained.

"Wait, down spiraled? How is he down spiraling?" I hadn't heard anything about Tristan since we broke up other than him being with random girls all the time.

"You didn't hear? His parents split up a few months before you guys did. I guess his dad was cheating on his mom with some young law clerk so they divorced, his mom moving pretty close to the apartment while his dad kept the big house in Beverly Hills. Oli ended up staying with their dad while Tristan stayed at the apartment. Ever since he's been smoking more than I do, which says a lot. He'd be out at parties and drinking almost daily to the point I couldn't take it anymore. I moved out and got an apartment with Lexi since she's been bugging me to move in together for a while." Jason explained.

That I hadn't heard. So his parents probably broke up shortly after he got back from Japan, maybe leading him to do what he had done to me. Although I had a lot of negative feelings towards Tristan, I did feel sympathy for him. Him and his dad already didn't get along well and I knew his mom was already having self esteem issues before this. I could imagine he was probably pretty angry at his dad, probably taking his mom's side in the situation. The way he decided to deal with it I could judge him for at least. I mean, I had been doing the same thing almost, but at least I wasn't having sex with every person in sight.

"Well at least one good thing came out of it, you and Lexi finally moved in together. I mean, I don't know how you hadn't before after six years together." I smiled.

He smiled back. "Yeah, it's been a pretty good decision so far. But like we were saying, now the band is just the three of us so you have no reason not to be in it now! Come on, Kyra. You know you wanna get back to music."

I shook my head. "I don't think so guys. I don't know if I'm ready for it after everything that's happened. I still have so much I need to sort through."

"Have you been writing?" Zane asked.

"What?" I hesitated.

"Answer the question, have you been writing?" Zane pressed on.

I frowned. "Yes."

Zane grinned, standing up to start walking upstairs. "Alright, show me what you've got."

The three of us went up to my room, them watching as I rifled through papers in my desk drawer to find a moleskin notebook. I threw it over to him, not really caring too much about the contents of it. I had been writing but I didn't really know if anything was good enough to actually turn into anything. I had just been writing about my feelings about life and certain people, not really giving any thought to them becoming full fledged songs.

Zane sat down on my bed, putting on his glasses to start reading. Every once and a while he'd make an impressed noise, causing Jason to look over his shoulder to try and read.

"You've still got it Kyra." Zane stated, his voice sounding very impressed.

"Really? I didn't really think any of them amounted to anything." I mumbled.

He turned to a few of the pages, showing them to me as he did. "Some weren't your best work, but some show a lot of growth in your writing and a lot of raw feelings. Particularly the songs 'What's Wrong?', 'Colors' and 'Anyone Else'. The first and last two actually sound like they could be on an album together. But 'Colors' sounds like something that might sound similar to other things we've written but with more bite. Do you have a guitar or piano around?" I could tell the gears of his virtuosic mind were turning.

"Um yeah. Kai had a grand piano surprisingly when I'd gotten here. I'll show you." I said with a tone of confusion.

I never really knew why my dad had a grand piano randomly sitting in a sitting room on the second floor of the mansion. I mean, it was a pretty room, having a large glass window overlooking the garden and a couple of nice looking couches, but the grand piano just sat in the middle. At first I wondered if Kai had gotten it for me but when I asked Ray about its presence, he said that Dad had that before he even moved in.

The minute I opened the door Zane went straight for the piano, cracking his fingers before putting his fingers to the keys.

"You want to start singing Colors and I'll play what I can think of to it?" He asked, focusing on the keys.

"Uh alright." I guessed, going to stand beside the piano.

" _Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so. You said your mother only smiled on her tv show_." I started to sing, Zane automatically playing a delicate melody along.

Getting to the chorus I felt a sudden burst of emotion, belting out the lyrics I had written. " _Everything is blue. His pills, his hands, his jeans, and now I'm covered in the colors pulled apart at the seems. And it's blue, and it's blue."_

As the two of us performed together I could feel two more sets of eyes rest on me, looking up to see Ray and Kai in the doorway. I guess it was already late since Kai was home. I continued to sing, looking at both of their smiles as I did so. This felt more normal. Performing with my friends, my parents watching with pride. This felt right.

We finished, Zane showing off and playing a long string of notes to end it off. Jason and Ray clapped as Kai gave me a smile and nod of approval.

"Was that a Tristan diss track cause if so, I'm here for it." Jason laughed.

I smirked. "Well, I guess you could say that."

"I do have one suggestion though on the lyrics. The part where you say 'Art is not what I create, what I create is chaos.' It's good, but I feel like it should be changed to something else. Like it just doesn't feel like it belongs in the song." Zane suggested.

I nodded, pondering the thought. "There was another thing I had written down."

I grabbed my notebook, flipping through to find what I was talking about. I pointed it out to him, his mouth breaking into a smile after reading it.

"Yes. That. That fits so much better." He exclaimed.

"What is it?" Jason asked, trying to come over to look.

"You were red and you liked me cause I was blue. But you touched me and suddenly I was a lilac sky, and you decided purple just wasn't for you." I read off.

Jason's eyes went wide, clapping after I finished speaking. "Tristan diss track amplified. Like he's my friend, but this song is too good for us to not do anything with."

"Are the three of you making music together again?" Ray asked.

"Yeah. Actually, we just received a record deal offer and I think we're going to take it." I commented, giving a smirk to Zane.

"Are you serious? Don't play with me, Hiwatari." He warned, shooting up from the piano bench in excitement.

"Obviously serious. That felt good and I think it might be a good distraction from everything going on to be making music again. I just need to figure out how to balance it and the Bladebreakers." I sighed, already knowing how my team was going to react to this.

I loved blading, but music was my passion. I could do both, it was just knowing how to balance both that was the problem. I had been out of the spotlight for a year now, no one really referring to me anymore, no paparazzi following me around like when we'd first arrived in Japan. This announcement was going to blow all of that out of the water. Was I really ready for this kind of attention again?


	5. The Light Behind Your Eyes

**_Finally got this done after hitting a lot of road bumps! So don't kill me, but this chapter starts off sad. I feel like I needed some more emotion in this story and I thought of this dimension so I decided to put it in._ _This chapter is named after the song 'Light Behind You Eyes' by My Chemical Romance, a song I feel sums up Kai's relationship with Kyra rather well._**

The Light Behind Your Eyes

 _ **Kai's P.O.V**_

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Three years. It had been three years since our daughter had been taken from us and I still couldn't find her. I'd been searching endlessly, exhausting all the resources Hiwatari Enterprises and the BBA had given me, yet we'd still come up empty. I was only twenty and had taken on so much. Learning to become the CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises so I could support myself and Ray, trying to keep him comfortable and sane while he grieved over our missing daughter, and trying to mask my own grief while searching every inch of the country for where the hell my bastard of a grandfather was hiding my daughter. It was no wonder I was losing sleep and chain-smoking cigarettes like they were being discontinued. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I had slept more than a couple of hours._

 _The first year of her being gone was hard on both of us. Ray spent a lot of it crying, barely leaving bed and not taking care of himself. It took a lot of coaxing to even get him to eat, let alone shower or brush his hair. It had gotten to the point where I had actually called Mariah since I couldn't get through to him. Her and Lee had come, spending a good few months with us to take care of him while I had travelled to Russia to search every city with Spencer, Tala, Bryan and Tala and Bryan's one year old son, Dimitri. We ended up not finding her anywhere, leaving us to assume that Voltaire thought Russia would be too predictable. The only good thing that came out of the trip was coming home to see Ray a bit more stable than I had seen him last and ready to help me search for our daughter._

 _At three years it was getting more and more difficult to stay positive, but Ray and I stuck by each other. We were all the other had at this point and the only ones who really understood what the other was going through. I held him each night while he'd express his anxieties and worries for our daughter while he would give me the pleasure only he could give me to relieve my stress from work and searching. We were starting to become more stable together, till the night of Kyra's third birthday._

 _It had been a few months since we had been intimate last since I had gone to Russia again, searching with Tala and Bryan in hopes that something new would come up. It hurt to call Ray each day, telling him that we still had no leads. I knew the stress of being without our daughter for this long had been getting to him since he'd complained to me about feeling sick quite a bit of the time and not having a lot of energy. It wasn't till that night that we truly knew why._

 _I was in my study, trying my best to answer emails for Hiwatari Enterprises. Trying to answer business emails as a twenty year old was harder than I had originally anticipated. I was pulled out of my focus by Ray's voice, breaking through the silence like glass._

 _"K-Kai…something's wrong." His voice cried._

 _I looked up to see him in the doorway, clutching his stomach as if it was paining him._

 _"What hurts, kitten?" I asked, rushing over to help him sit on the couch._

 _"I-I don't know…but it's in my stomach and I think we need to go to the hospital." He winced, fangs bared as he hissed after sitting down._

 _I nodded, swiftly picking him up to bring him out to the car to drive to the hospital._

 _I didn't think the two of us could break more until the doctor told us what was happening._

 _"So it seems you're having a miscarriage. You're about two months along so unfortunately there's not much we can do other than let it happen naturally and keep you comfortable while this happens." She said sadly._

 _Ray's eyes filled with tears, holding my hand tightly as he laid in the hospital bed. "I didn't even know I was pregnant…"_

 _"What could have caused the miscarriage?" I asked softly._

 _"Many things can cause them. Stress, not taking care of the body properly, but sometimes they just happen. Sometimes there isn't a reason but don't get discouraged. It's a common thing. Just try to stay comfortable and I'll come check on you in the next few hours." She explained, walking out after she finished speaking._

 _I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling Ray into my embrace as he broke down. Our second child lost in a matter of three years and this time, we didn't even get to meet them first._

 _"I-I'm sorry…" He sobbed, burying his head into my chest._

 _"It's alright, love. This isn't your fault." I whispered, tears starting to well up in my eyes._

 _We had experienced so much hardship so young in life. First losing our daughter to my grandfather, now losing our second unborn child to the stress from that loss. I just wanted to bring some happiness to our lives, to Ray's life. I wanted to get our daughter back to make him happy._

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"So, what brings the three of you here today?" Doctor Amari questioned, folding her hands on top of her desk.

"Things have taken a bit of a down spiral." Kyra stated.

"Oh really? How so?" She asked, focusing her attention on Kyra, who was sitting in between the two of us.

"The medication ended up not being the best fit for me so I decided to take myself off of it in March. That resulted in the nightmares and depression coming back, which resulted in a lot of self medicating." Her tone in voice revealed she felt a lot more shame towards her actions than Ray and I had originally thought. We also had no idea she didn't find very much relief from her medication either.

"With alcohol or marijuana?" Doctor Amari questioned.

"Uhh…let's just say with a lot of things." She hesitated.

The psychologist gave a sympathetic smile. "Well I'm glad you've realized the unhealthy behaviours and have decided to come back. Now, why have you brought your dads in? They said on the phone that this was your idea."

The two of us both looked at our daughter, waiting for her to explain.

"I think we all need a bit of help getting to a place of normalcy. I'm still adjusting and trying to figure out what works for me, but I've also noticed Baba and Dad having a bit of a hard time too. Baba is very concerned when I'm not with him, which was understandable during the past few months when I was having a really rough time, but even before he would constantly have me be checking in with him or want to bring me places that I could get to by myself. Dad is more just concerned with how Baba and I are doing and doesn't seem to do much for himself. To the point where I don't really know what Dad likes to do other than be with Baba and smoke cigarettes." She sighed.

"Well? How do the two of you feel about that?" Doctor Amari looked at the two of us, waiting to see who would speak first.

Ray spoke up, as I assumed he would. "I think it's just hard to accept. After not having any contact with our daughter for almost seventeen years, then losing her again for a brief period. It feels like we've barely had any time with her and to know she's almost an adult and will be out on her own in the next couple of years..." He faded out.

This was something Ray hadn't discussed with me. I knew he was a bit fearful of something happening to Kyra but I didn't know he was upset about her growing up. He was really that upset about us having an empty nest?

"You're not ready for her to leave after not getting a lot of time with her in the first place, am I understanding you correctly?" The psychologist asked.

Ray nodded. "It feels like my time as a parent is so short. I was so happy to have Kyra back in our lives, but with her being so independent and almost being eighteen it feels like she really doesn't need us much anymore. It's like I got her back just to watch her leave again."

"Well Kyra, what do you have to say to that?" She prompted.

"Baba, you're not losing me just because I'm getting older. I'm still always going to be here and always need you for some things. But I've been on my own for a while and it's a bit harder to rely on others when I'm used to relying only on myself. Your job as a parent with me is never going to be over, I'm always going to need you and your advice in one way or another." Kyra smiled warmly, taking Ray's hand which received her a smile back.

"Now Kai, do you have anything to say back to what Kyra said about you?" Doctor Amari turned her attention to me, eyebrows raised.

"Well…the past seventeen years have been revolved around getting this family back together. That's what's important to me." I stated.

"But Dad, our family is back together now. Maybe not perfectly, but we're together. Yet you're still focusing on us fully. Like I have never seen you do anything you seem to remotely enjoy, other than smoking cigarettes and having sex with Baba." She retorted, causing Ray and I to blush at her bluntness.

"Kyra!" Ray called in embarrassment.

Doctor Amari laughed, shooing away our reactions. "No need to worry, that's actually a good thing to know. It's good the two of you are connecting on an intimate level. But that is a bit concerning to have such a heavy focus on your family opposed to yourself. Why do you think that is?"

"They're everything to me. They come first and are most important." I answered, looking at the two of them to see both of them smiling slightly.

"Well, that is the end of our session for today. There are some things I'd like the three of you to work on this week. Kyra, I'm going to give you a prescription for a new anti-depressant. They're a bit more mild compared to the one you were taking previously so let me know if they help. I'd also like for you to try asking for help more and relying on your fathers for things opposed to doing them yourself. I know that's hard, but I'd like you to try." She said, noticing Kyra's scowl when she recommended trying to rely on others.

"Ray, while trying to encourage Kyra to come to you, I also want you to try starting to accept when she wants to do things herself or wants to go out alone. Try to give her some space while still being there if she does need you. Also, maybe the two of you could talk about the idea of having another child?" She suggested, pointing at Ray and I.

"What? I think we're a bit old for that." Ray blushed.

"Baba you're turning thirty four, not forty." Kyra scoffed.

"Just something to think about. Since the two of you didn't get the full experience of raising Kyra and since she is getting into her young adult years, maybe a second child is something that would be beneficial? But to finish off, Kai, I would like you to try finding some things that bring you joy outside of family life. Self care is important and it seems your daughter is worried you're not getting enough of it." Doctor Amari finished off.

The three of us walked down from the office towards the pharmacy to get Kyra's new prescription, Kyra giving us a knowing smile once we were standing in front of it.

"So? That went well, right?" She encouraged.

"Other than you exposing our sex life." I sighed.

"Hey, it's not like that's a bad thing. But seriously, did you both find that helpful? Can we continue it?" She asked, eyes darting between the two of us. I was surprised she was so invested in this. Things must really be bad in her mind currently to willingly want help.

"We'll see how this week goes of trying Doctor Amari's suggestions, then we will decide. Now let's get your prescription and go home so I can cook dinner." Ray decided, turning to go into the pharmacy.

Once getting back from the psychologist's office, the three of us went our separate ways in the house. Ray to cook dinner, Kyra probably going out to smoke a cigarette and read in the garden like she had been since Jason and Zane had left, and I went to my study, not really knowing what to do.

It had been a week since Kyra had come home from her 'adventures' in Shibuya and Zane and Jason had left a few days ago, leaving the house relatively quiet. I had to admit, I missed the noise the three of them had been making. It was nice hearing my daughter laugh after almost a year of not even seeing her smile. The music was also pleasant to hear everyday when coming home. I'd come home, hearing piano ballads along with Kyra's emotion filled words.

I sat in my study, starring at the blank computer screen and thinking about what had been suggested to me in the previous therapy session. What did I really enjoy doing that didn't involve my family? My life since I was fifteen had revolved around Ray, even though we hadn't gotten together since I was sixteen and he was fifteen, I had felt things towards him since meeting. He intrigued me and I always felt an emotional and sexual attraction to him. I was just too scared to act on it until I almost lost my life in my battle against Brooklyn. For so long Ray had been my main focus, but what did I really enjoy doing when he wasn't around?

I found myself walking upstairs, going to the piano room that Kyra and her friends had been occupying the past week. As a child my parents had me in piano lessons and it was something I loved before beyblading took over my life. I hadn't played since I was in private school when I was fifteen, but maybe this would be something I enjoyed doing again?

I sat at the bench, putting my fingers to the keys and trying to remember all of the notes. I began to slowly play one of the only songs I really remembered learning, Hallelujah. I had to admit, it felt calming to play again. It came naturally, the music flowing and my fingers hitting each key like they'd been playing for years. As I ended the song I heard a voice chime in behind me.

"So that's why the piano is here."

I turned to see Kyra leaning up against the doorway, my famous smirk planted on her lips. I smiled, turning back to look at the piano. "Yeah. Your grandparents had me in lessons as a child and it was something I kept with until I started blading professionally. I played off and on during those times, but beyblading was my passion back then."

"When was the last time you played before this?" She asked, walking up and taking a seat on the bench beside me.

"Probably when I was fifteen in private school. They had one and at that time, I was trying to retire from blading since I thought I had finished what I wanted to with it in my first tournament with Baba. I used it as a distraction but ended up getting pulled back to blading anyways." I explained.

"Do you know any other songs?" She asked.

"Not that I remember. Hallelujah is one I played often for your grandmother so that's why I remember that one. It was one of her favourites." I smiled softly. I had fond memories of my parents. I may have not gotten along well with my father before Voltaire killed them both, but my mother and I were rather close.

She smiled back. "I would've liked to meet her."

I nodded, looking her in the eyes. "She would've loved you a lot. She sang as well so I think she would've enjoyed having another singer in the family."

That's when her head shot up, looking around. "I hear someone new."

"What?" I asked, looking around where she was looking.

"Yeah. Someone new is walking up to the house." She stated.

Just as she said that the doorbell rang, followed by Ray yelling, "Can one of you get that? I'm a bit busy with dinner!"

I sighed, not really knowing who could've been here at this time. I went down the stairs, opening up the door only to let out another sigh when I saw who it was. "Oh great. What are you doing here?"

 _ **OOH SUSPENSEFUL ENDING! Never done one of these before so I thought I'd try now. Please remember to review, let me know what you like, don't like, want me to include. I love getting suggestions on new things to throw into this story so let me know!**_


	6. To Belong

_**So now we are getting to the plot line I've been very excited about! A new possible romance for Kyra and some bonding time with a certain father who has been a little neglected so far. The song to reflect this chapter is 'To Belong' by Daughter. I dunno why, but these angsty female singers are really working for Kyra's character. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys!**_

 **To Belong**

 _ **Kyra's P.O.V**_

 _ **Flashback**_

 _I was only fourteen and had already been in five different foster homes since arriving in America a year ago. After being kicked out of my first foster home due to the snobby girl, Tess, I had been put in a few different places, being removed for various things. My foster parents being arrested for drug possession, another kid trying to start physical fights with me and beating me up, even the one set of foster parents biological son trying to make a move on me then blaming it on me, getting me kicked out of the house while he got off scot-free. It seemed I couldn't catch a break and I was at the point where I was just letting life run its course. I couldn't control where I stayed, so why should I care?_

 _After being considered high risk from the sexual aspect of my last foster home, it was getting harder for me to land a spot in a safe foster home. No one wanted a high risk girl who would make moves on their teenage sons. Even though my case worker knew the full story, she still couldn't help me get that situation removed from my file, leaving me stuck in a group home until they could find a foster family who wanted me._

 _The group home wasn't the most ideal situation. There were eight of us in the home, most of the girls just coming out of juvie or unstable foster homes. Then there was me, a girl who had been tossed from home to home and blamed for things she hadn't even done. It wasn't surprising to me when I wasn't accepted by the girls there. I stayed quiet and to myself which to them was weakness. I was seen in most cases as the person to be taken advantage of, due to my quiet nature. Till one day I decided to not let myself be overlooked anymore._

 _I was getting ready for bed in the bathroom, just brushing my teeth when I felt a tug on my ponytail and heard a snip. I looked in the mirror to see one of the girls, I think her name was Sam, behind me holding scissors in one hand and my jet black ponytail in the other._

 _"You and your pretty long hair. That didn't belong in here. Girls like you don't belong in places like this so we had to make you look more of the part." She sneered._

 _I turned to look at her, my bottom lip quivering. My hair was one thing I held a lot of pride in. I'd felt the need to keep it long since I was a child and now the one thing I really got to keep through this mess was gone._

 _"What are you going to do? Cry about it?" Sam cackled._

 _I grabbed the scissors, throwing them to the ground as I pushed her against the wall. Sam was older than me by two years but I was still taller, standing at 5'5 while she was 5'2. I looked her in the eyes, my crimson orbs burning into her gaze._

 _"Don't you ever lay a hand on me again. Got it?" I hissed. My eyes burned as I did this but I didn't really understand why._

 _She gulped, nodding as I continued to hold her against the wall._

 _"Tell those other bitches about this. I know what all of you have been saying. I am not someone to be messed with and if any of you try again, I can promise you I will do more than just shove you against a wall. I've done worse than you can even imagine." I snarled, removing my hands from her to walk out of the bathroom._

 _I went into my room, closing the door to leave me alone in front of my bedroom mirror. I removed the hair elastic, letting my hair fall out of it. It had gone from resting at my hips to sitting just below my jaw line, choppy and uneven. I ran my hand through it, tears starting to escape my eyes as I did. I had lost the only real thing I had left of my childhood. It was that day I left my childhood behind, knowing that in this world I could only really depend on myself. Going from house to house, not ever having a solid set of guardians looking out for me. I had to look out for myself and defend myself from the harsh reality of this world. All I had was me and I couldn't depend on anyone else to take care of me._

 _ **End Of Flashback**_

It seemed I wasn't the only one surprised by Tala, Bryan and Dimitri dropping in on us by Dad's reaction.

"Oh great. What are you doing here?" Kai sighed.

"What? Can I not drop in on my boss, our kitten and our lovely goddaughter?" Tala asked, smiling back at me when he said 'lovely goddaughter'.

"Wait, what?" I asked, going to stand beside Kai.

"You didn't tell her we were her god fathers?" Bryan smirked.

"Well amongst the kidnapping and trying to come back from that, when would we have really gotten the chance?" Kai shook his head.

Ray poked his head out of the kitchen into the large foyer. "Oh I thought I heard the three of you pull up. Kai, you didn't tell me we were expecting people."

"We weren't. They just showed up." Kai grumbled, closing the door as the three of them came in.

"Sorry Uncle Kai, I tried to convince them to call." Dimitri commented, giving Dad a sympathetic smile.

Dimitri had only gotten more attractive in the year since we'd seen each other. He was over six feet tall, relatively thin like Tala but still had muscle on him, showing that he obviously worked out a decent amount. His shoulder length red hair was pulled into a low pony tail and he looked rather clean cut in his dark faded jeans and grey button up dress shirt. Not that I was looking to date, but he was really peaking my interest.

I saw him eyeing me as well, coming up to me with his lavender eyes glancing over my looks.

"Kyra. A pleasure to see you again." He smiled, putting out his hand for me to shake.

I took it, softly shaking it as I gave him a smirk back. "Nice seeing you as well. I mean, last time we hung out we were pretty drunk so it'll be nice to get to know you while sober."

He chuckled, giving me a charming smile. "I mean, that was a pretty fun night so I can't imagine how much better you are sober."

Was this boy flirting with me? I mean, this was something I was used to. I knew I was attractive and was used to getting hit on by men. It was just rare I found a guy my own age attractive.

"Well, are we going to be invited in or are you expecting us to camp out in the foyer?" Tala jabbed at my dad.

"I mean, you weren't really invited here." Kai mumbled, going to join Baba in the kitchen.

I was still surprised how casual Tala was. From what dad described, the two of them had it pretty rough in the Abbey. Tala had even been subjected to experimentation as had I, but it seems with age he'd gotten over it. As far as I knew of, the two of them worked at the company with dad, taking care of the Russian branch in their respective titles, but sometimes they'd come to Japan to help with certain aspects. From what I could tell, Bryan was still a bit hard from everything that had happened to him but it seemed Tala and Dimitri warmed him a lot.

Baba, being how he was, invited the three to join us for dinner. We sat in the dining room, somewhere we never really used unless we had company over. It was a pretty fancy room. Glass chandeliers, a large wine cupboard with fancy china displayed in another cupboard close to the window, some of Dad and Baba's blading trophies were even displayed in here. I wondered if some of my music awards would end up in here some day.

It ended up being pretty ironic that Tala, Bryan and Dimitri being here when Baba had decided to cook some Russian dishes for a change, trying to cater to more of Dad's tastes. Dinner consisted of potato okroshka, a cold, creamy soup consisting of buttermilk, potato, onions and topped with dill, and pirozhki, pastries that had potato, meat, cabbage and cheese inside them. He didn't realize it, but these were relatively nostalgic for me as well.  
The six of us ate, most of the dinner being full of small talk that I was tuning out of, more focused on how familiar the food was to me. As a child, although I rarely spent time with my grandfather, he had hired a nanny that had cooked traditional Russian dishes for me often. She was probably the closest I had to a parental figure back then.

I heard my name brought up, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I looked up, probably looking like a deer in the headlights as I turned my attention to my fathers. "What?"

"Tala was asking about how you thought training was going for the next round of the tournament in America next month." Ray explained.

"Oh. Um, well other than the past few months not being the greatest for me, the team has been pretty good. A lot of improvements. I'm going back to practice tomorrow after a week off so I'm hoping I'll redeem myself after a few off months." I told him.

"Ah I see. I know Dimitri has been saying that this tournament the Blade Breakers are the ones to beat. Not that I have any doubt that the Blitzkreig Boys won't come out on top." Tala smirked, giving his son an approving nod.

"I don't know, we've been improving a lot. Who knows, maybe we could take this championship." I smirked back.

"Oh really? Think you'd be able to take the championship title away from me? I mean, so far I've been the only one to win the championships four years in a row. That hasn't happened since Tyson." Dimitri bragged. This was the first time I saw him really get cocky.

I laughed, letting my confidence come out to play as well. "I mean, that was before I came into this game. Who knows? Maybe I'll snatch that title right out from under you."

"The competitive spirit is back!" Tala cheered.

Ray laughed. "This tournament is definitely going to be interesting, that's for sure."

"So Kyra, how have you been adjusting with your new life? I bet Kai is a joy to live with." Tala asked, giving a smirk in Kai's direction.

Kai mumbled something under his breath, shaking his head.

"It's nice. I mean, it would be nicer if I didn't have to hear my dads making love every day but you know, at least they love each other." I shrugged, starting to eat my soup again.

Ray blushed, shaking his head as Kai gave me a wide 'did you really just bring up our sex life for the second time today' look.

"Oh hey, I know that feeling too." Dimitri laughed, looking knowingly at his fathers.

"I mean…not really since that's something that hasn't happened in a while." Bryan mumbled while drinking some of the whisky Kai had brought out.

"What do you mean? We slept together this past week." Tala said, an accused tone taking form.

"Oh god, here we go again." Kai sighed, finishing his whisky.

"What?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"Every single time they come here a fight breaks out. Normally a dish gets broken, a lot of swearing happens and Dimitri has to calm them down in some way." Ray explained.

"This time I think I'm going to let it play out though. I need some entertainment." Dimitri grinned, sitting back as if he were at the movies.

"Maybe I'd want to sleep with you more if you did something romantic for once! When was the last time we went out on a date, hmm?" Tala accused, standing up from his spot to glare down at Bryan.

Bryan stood up, his height and muscle making him look terrifying compared to Tala, who already looked pretty scary with his icy blue glare. "We've been together for how long now? Not everything has to be romantic."

The two continued to bicker on, saying some very heavy Russian swears until Dimitri seemed to get bored, taking a steak knife and lightly pressing it to his finger.

"Oh shit, I cut my finger. Papa, I need help." He said in a dull voice.

Tala looked over, coming to inspect the wound. "Dear jesus son, why are you so accident prone?"

"I dunno. Isn't it ironic how it's always when you're fighting too?" He asked sarcastically, looking over at me with a smirk.

I smiled, shaking my head.

Bryan sat down in his seat beside Kai, sighing with a shake of his head. "I swear he babies him too much."

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Tala yelled, his icy glare coming out again.

I stood up, waving to get Baba and Dad's attention. "Uhh so I'm going to go out and have a smoke in the garden. You guys enjoy World War Ivanov-Kuznetsov."

I walked out back, the weather being warm enough to be out in my dress and not need a jacket, but still not feeling like summer just yet. The garden had become my place of solitude for the past year. Ray had planted a lot of gorgeous flowers and the birds visited our yard frequently, giving me a lot to look at as I sat out here. I spent most of my time out here reading, smoking or even writing songs when I felt the inspiration to.

As I walked I heard footsteps run behind me. Being the cautious person I was, I whipped around, ready to hit someone when I saw it was just Dimitri.

"God, don't scare me like that." I sighed, throwing my head back in annoyance.

He laughed, patting my arm. "Sorry. Just thought you might want some company out here. Plus I needed a break from my Papa and Otets and also kind of wanted a cigarette too."

"Oh, you smoke?" I asked, offering him one from my pack as I stuck one of them between my lips.

"Occasionally. Probably not as often as you, but it's a bad habit I picked up from Otets. He smokes like a chimney so it's a bit hard to get away from. Papa isn't a fan so I try not to do it around him, which is also hard when he's with me quite a lot." Dimtri explained, taking the lighter from me and lighting my cigarette before taking his between his lips and lighting his own.

The two of us sat on a bench in front of the koi pond, watching the colourful fish swim around.

"So you were saying that you had a rough few months?" Dimitri asked, his lavender eyes softening once meeting my crimson.

"Well, rough year. I mean, how could it not be rough when I got kidnapped again, found out my foster father was a fraud and had my boyfriend cheat on me all in the span of three months? Then I'm expected to go on like everything's fine when I don't really know who is actually staying in my life and who's out, or really who I am anymore. Life has just been a shit storm." I sighed, taking a long drag after my rant.

He nodded, frowning. "I think I heard Papa mentioning you two had broken up and something about Uncle Kai wanting to murder him."

I smirked. "Yeah, sounds like Dad. That's really been the only good thing to come out of the past year. Baba and Dad, getting to know them."

"Yeah you're lucky. Uncle Kai and Uncle Ray are really great people. They care about you a lot you know. Since I can remember Kai spent all of his time looking for you. Even when Ray lost the baby, they were looking for you." He smiled.

"Wait, what? Lost what baby?" I questioned.

"Oh they didn't tell you…on your third birthday Ray had a miscarriage. They didn't even know they were having a second child until that happened. It broke Ray for a while, making Kai more motivated to find you. I got brought on a lot of tours of Russia searching for you." He explained.

"Wow…they never told me that." I murmured. I couldn't even imagine how hard that would've been. Losing two children in a span of three years.

"I know it's something they try to forget about. Honestly, I haven't seen them as happy as they've been since you've come back. I mean, I'm pretty happy to be getting to meet you now as well. You're really something, Kyra Hiwatari." He grinned, giving me a clap on the back.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Well I'm glad I'm making someone happy at least. Been a long time since I've been able to feel that. I mean, since Tristan and everything."

"I'm sorry about that, by the way. But no offense, he seemed like a dick when I met him." He smirked, taking a drag from his cigarette and looking up at the night's sky.

I laughed, covering my mouth with my hand that wasn't holding my cigarette. "Was I the only one that thought he was a good guy?"

"Probably, yeah. I mean, there are better guys out there than that. You deserve someone really great." He said softly.

"At this point, I really don't think I do." I sighed.

I looked over, my eyes meeting his again. This was a feeling I hadn't felt in a while. This pure level of attraction. I hadn't felt this since Tristan and didn't really know what to make of it. It was obvious Dimitri was feeling it too when he leaned in, lightly brushing his lips against mine.

It was like a spark had been lit in me. The minute his lips touched mine my body took over, pressing mine against his, my hand dropping my cigarette to wrap my arms around his neck. It felt like a fire had been awakened inside me, something I never felt with Tristan. It scared me, but it felt too good to push him away. He put his hands on my hips, trying to pull me as if to indicate he wanted me on his lap. I obliged, moving myself so I was on his lap, my torso pressed against his as we continued to kiss, his tongue brushing along my bottom lip trying to get me to grant him entry. Our tongues danced, my body getting more into the making out than my mind would've liked. I grinded against him, gripping his back as the making out got heavier, till a flash of Tristan came into my head.

I broke the kiss, slowly moving myself back onto the bench. The two of us breathed heavily, him looking at me with a look of concern.

"Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?" He asked, trying to put his hand on my shoulder but I moved away.

"N-no…it's nothing you did. I just…I don't think it's a good time for me to be getting into something. I'm sorry if I led you on, I just think it's best for both of us if we stay friends. You don't want to be pulled into this mess." I stammered.

He nodded, giving me a sad smile. "You know, I don't think you're a mess. I've been interested in you since we first met and you're just as alluring and intriguing now as you were when I met you before all of this happened. But, if you feel it's not the best time for us, I can accept that. But know this, I will be here when you're ready. I'm not ready to give up on you yet, Kyra Hiwatari." He smiled, going to stand up. That's when we heard a loud crash come from inside the house. "Well, I think it's officially time for me to start mediating my fathers argument. Remember what I said, I'm here if you need me or want me."

He left me alone in the garden, my senses filled with him. I could still smell his cologne, feel where his lips had been on mine, where his hands had grabbed my hips. I wanted him so badly, but I couldn't give in. I couldn't get hurt again. The only person who was going to protect me was me and I couldn't let myself get torn apart by another man.

The next morning I was getting ready for practice, trying my best to sort my hair out but it just wasn't cooperating. I had finally grown it out to the length it had been when I was fourteen, resting just at my hips but it was already becoming a pain in the ass to deal with. The most I could do was put it up in a ponytail, but even then it still got tangled from how thick it was. I wanted to braid it but had never really learned how, leaving me with not many options. That's when I thought of my task for the week. Rely on others instead of just relying on myself.

I walked down the hall, a brush and hair ties in hand as I approached Baba and Dad's room. The door was open, revealing Baba in the bathroom as he finished wrapping his hair. It seemed Dad was already at work since Baba was here alone. I went up to the bathroom, lightly tapping the door with my hand.

He looked over, giving me a bright smile. "Good morning, sweetheart. Ready to go?"

"Umm…I was wondering if I could ask you something." I hesitated. Asking for help was not something I was used to, so this was foreign territory for me.

"Of course. Ask away." He answered, finishing off his hair.

"Could…could you braid my hair? I don't really know how…" I murmured in embarrassment.

I was shocked by how much his eyes lit up, his smile showing so much happiness.

"Of course! Come and sit!" He enthused, motioning me to go sit on the bed as he took the brush from my hand.

He took his time, brushing my hair, making sure it was smooth before beginning to braid. As much as I was happy that he was happy, I was also happy since this was the first time Ray and I really got to bond over something. It wasn't much, but it was a small step to us getting to be a normal family for once.


	7. So Far Away

_**This took way longer than I originally anticipated to get out and honestly, not too sure if this is as good of a chapter as I'd hoped it would be but hoping to redeem myself next chapter. This one is named after the song 'So Far Away' by Staind.**_

 **So Far Away**

 _ **Kai's P.O.V**_

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Fifteen years our daughter had been gone and although we were used to it, the ache hadn't gone away. We didn't even know if she was still alive, but we had hope she was still out there somewhere and was waiting for us to find her. I meant it when I told Ray I would never stop trying to get her back but after so long, I was tired._

 _Ray and I had started a tradition after the fifth year of Kyra being gone, lighting Chinese lanterns and having cake every year in the garden on her birthday. Ray didn't know why, but he felt she would've liked celebrating her birthday out in the garden by the koi pond. It was a tradition we kept even when everyone else had given up hope that she was out there. Everyone else could give up hope, but this celebration was our way of still keeping the hope alive._

 _The fifteenth year was by far the hardest for me. So many times we thought we had found a lead, only for it to come up short. So many options and plans I had thought would have worked ended up not helping at all. I just wanted to bring Kyra hope for Ray, for me. I didn't think my heart could hurt more than the day my parents had died or the day I had to battle Ray and hurt him by accident but I could. My daughter being out in this world with god knows what happening to her hurt me to my core and I couldn't pretend to be strong anymore._

 _May Fifteenth. Kyra's fifteenth birthday was upon us and as usual, that night Ray had lit the Chinese lanterns, carrying out a small chocolate cake he had picked up from the local bakery. He'd even gone the extra mile to put number 15 candles on the cake and light them. He had a somber smile on as he placed it on the little glass table we had beside the bench, taking a seat beside me._

 _"Fifteen years…you'd think it would be easier to accept after this long." I sighed, lowering my head. I hadn't told Ray, but I honestly was losing hope that she was still out there._

 _"Kai…you've been acting strange the past month. I mean, not that you're normally extremely talkative with me, but you've been really distant. What's wrong?" He asked softly, taking my hand and brushing his thumb along the back of it._

 _"I want to find her and bring her home for you. I want to believe she's still out there. But Ray, we've been looking for fifteen years. We haven't found her in any of the places we've searched and we've searched multiple times. I've been trying to keep my hopes up for you but I don't think I can do it anymore. I don't know if she's even still alive." I spoke, choking on my words near the end. It was a very rare occurrence that I shed tears but I had spent so much of my time being strong for Ray that it had taken a toll on me._

 _Ray took me into his embrace, cradling my head near his chest. "You didn't have to be doing all of this for me, love. This is for us. I know it's been getting harder to bare this, not coming up with anything when you're trying everything you possibly can. But I know she's out there. Don't ask me how, but I have a feeling she's still alive. She's the daughter of Kai Hiwatari, the man who somehow beat Brooklyn and lived to tell the tale. If anyone can stay alive through fifteen years with Voltaire and Boris, it's her."_

 _The two of us stayed like that for a while, eventually blowing out the melting candles and trying to salvage what was left of the wax covered cake. The stars were bright, almost feeling like it was a sign that our daughter was still okay. It was an odd feeling to have Ray comforting me for once, but it was a feeling I gladly accepted. He was the love of my life and to know he would take care of me just as much as I had been taking care of him made me hopeful that someday our daughter would return to us. As long as we had each other, we could wait as long as we had to to have her underneath our roof again._

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"Happy birthday Kyra Mei!" Ray exclaimed, almost bouncing when Kyra made her way into the kitchen.

It was only nine in the morning and Ray had already made pancakes, bacon, sausage and was starting to bake Kyra's birthday cake. While he was bursting with energy, I was just finishing my first cup of coffee and it was obvious from the expression on Kyra's face that she wasn't ready for this level of energy either.

Her crimson eyes still showed signs of sleep, the braid Ray had put in her hair the night before was frizzed from her pillows, a grumpy scowl rested on her lips and she was still in her PJ pants and a baggy t-shirt.

"Coffee. Me. Please." She mumbled, sitting beside me as I slid a mug of black coffee her way.

"Didn't sleep well?" I asked, laughing a bit at how fast she was attempting to down the hot drink.

"Well it would've been better if I didn't wake up to Baba clanging in the kitchen." She grumbled, shooting daggers at Ray.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry sweetheart. This is just the first birthday you're actually spending living in this house. It needs to be special."

"Can't it be special two hours from now?" She sighed, trying to reach past me to get more coffee.

I smirked, taking the pot to pour more in her mug.

"Thank you." She murmured, starting to drink again.

"Anything for the birthday girl." I joked, receiving the same glare as Ray had gotten.

"I can't believe you're eighteen. Any plans for the big day?" Ray asked, placing a plate of pancakes in front of each of us.

She shook her head as she put strawberries and whip cream on hers. "Zane and Jason said they'd call at some point but otherwise, not really. I was thinking of maybe going to the mall since I need a nice dress for graduation since they're actually letting me graduate after not really attending for the past few months."

"Why don't you take her Kai?" Ray offered.

"It's not a big deal. It's just a dress. I can just see if Jeremiah would drive me later." She shrugged, digging into her breakfast.

"No it's okay. Dad could drive and go with you. I mean, who wants to go shopping alone on their birthday?" Ray tried to insist.

"Well I've done it countless times before. I doubt Dad really wants to watch me pick out some dumb dress" She sighed.

"Well maybe he would like to go with you. Kai?" Ray asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

I smirked, shaking my head at his insistent nature. "Sure. I need to get some new shirts for work anyways."

Ray smiled at me, looking over at Kyra afterwards with a smug look. "See?"

She rolled her eyes, finishing her breakfast and bringing her plate to the dishwasher. "Whatever. I'm going to go get ready. Let me know when you want to leave."

I knew he was just trying to get her out of the house to set up the surprises the two of us had planned. Since she was eighteen and officially an adult, Ray and I had decided to go big with gifts this year. Especially when we had missed so many birthdays and she'd had such a rough year, we felt it would be good for all of us.

For my part of the gift I had decided to get Kyra a car. She had mentioned previously that she had her driver's licence in America and had been able to drive, it had just been something she didn't get to do a lot since they'd only had one car. I knew getting driven around by Jeremiah was starting to irritate her so a car would help with the 'adult independence' she wanted. I'd picked out a grey Aston Martin Vanquish S, something I felt fit her style. Ray didn't know how he felt about the sports car, but he didn't try to fight me on it.

The one gift we agreed on together was a family trip. We had decided to let Kyra pick the place since we didn't know where she would be interested in going, but Ray had been having a hard time keeping it a surprise since he was so excited. Being honest, so was I. We needed a break as a family after everything we'd gone through, as well as some time to bond without any of life's distractions.

"What do you think of this one?" Kyra asked, holding up a short red dress.

I wrinkled my nose at the length. I didn't know why my daughter felt the need to show so much skin. "Couldn't you find anything that covers a bit more?"

She gave me an unimpressed look and put the dress back on the rack. "You're not very helpful you know."

"What colour is the gown?" I asked, referring to her graduation gown.

"Black with a red and navy hood and tassels. Why?" She raised her brow at me.

I went over to another rack, pulling a navy blue dress with long sleeves and a skirt that went just above her knees. "This?"

She came over, taking it from me and going towards a change room. Minutes later she came out wearing the dress and standing in front of the mirror to look at herself.

"Not bad. Didn't know you knew so much about fashion, Dad." She smirked, turning back to show off.

"I didn't dress how I did in my teens for nothing. Plus you see me in dress clothes all the time." I smirked back.

After buying the dress the two of us walked through the mall, grabbing coffee as we looked around. Ray had asked me to keep her out of the house for a few hours so he could set up and the car could be delivered but it was getting more and more difficult to keep her entertained. It wasn't till I saw a jewelry store that I had an idea.

"How about we stop here?" I suggested.

"Um…sure? But what for?" She asked, following me to look at a display.

I stood in front of a display of engagement rings, looking from them to her.

"Shut up. You're finally going to propose?" She enthused, a grin on her face.

I nodded, looking back to the rings. "Yes. I think after nineteen years of being together and one child it's been a long time coming. But I need help picking a ring."

"You're letting me help pick?" She asked, peering up at me.

I nodded again. "What do you think he'll like?"

"Well, he doesn't seem very flashy. Something simple would be best. Like that!" She pondered, pointing to a simple gold band in excitement.

I bent over, peering at the ring she had pointed out. "It isn't too plain?"

She shook her head. "I mean, you could maybe engrave something on it but I think it's good. Very much Baba."

I ended up taking her advice but not showing her what I chose to get engraved on. That I wanted to keep a secret until we actually got engaged.

As the two of us walked outside back to my car she decided to ask the question I'd been waiting to hear.

"So, when are you popping the question?" She asked.

"If it's okay with you, tonight." I answered, returning the smile.

"Of course. Just makes my eighteenth birthday even better. I mean, Baba has been mentioning how much he wants the two of you to get married. Plus you've taken forever to do this. About time you officially tied the knot." She replied.

I smiled to myself, thinking about all of Ray's 'subtle' hints to get married in the past year. All he had wanted since Kyra had come home was for us to get married. Even though we both knew it didn't change anything between us, it meant something to Ray, therefore it meant something to me.

Ray and I decided to show Kyra our tradition that we had done the years before she had come back into our lives, our cake by the pond with Chinese lanterns hanging around. Ray had made chocolate cake like usual since surprisingly enough it was Kyra's favourite. It was the same as every year, only now we had Kyra to join us.

She looked around at the lanterns, looking back at Ray with a small smile. "This was why you wanted me out of the house?"

He laughed and gave a nod. "This is actually a tradition your father and I had before we got you back. We'd sit out here with the lanterns up, have cake and pray you were safe. It was something we started doing around your fifth birthday I think. Helped us keep the faith we'd find you and we did."

The three of us sat at the lawn table and chairs we had the year before, Ray bringing out the chicken alfredo and chocolate cake he had made as we discussed Kyra's upcoming graduation.

"So, have you decided what you want to do for next year?" I asked. I had brought up college multiple times, Kyra never seeming sure when I suggested it.

"Sorry to disappoint Dad but college is off the table for the next year. Maybe at some point, but not this year. But, it's because we have the next round of the tournament next month and then I also have some news for you both. As of July we will be signed to our new record label and have been told we can start production on a new album. Over the next year I'm going to have to fly out to California a lot to record and be part of that process but I'll still be living with you both." She explained, her eyes darting between the two of us waiting for our reactions.

That wasn't as much a surprise to me as it was to Ray. I knew she would be going after her passions again, making it so she would be here less. But I could see Ray's face fall as he heard her mention California.

"How long would you be gone for?" He asked with a sad tone in his voice.

"A couple of weeks to a month at a time. But you both are more than welcome to come with me if you'd like. It's going to be a bit boring though. Just writing and working out ideas the first few visits before we really start recording stuff. We do have a few things already worked out so it might not take as long but we'll see. Aw Baba, don't look so sad. It's not like I'm leaving yet, plus you'll be with me for tournaments." She smiled, placing her hand on Ray's.

He smiled with a nod. "All this travelling is going to make it a bit hard to use one of your gifts though."

"What? What gifts?" She asked, looking around.

"Follow me." I commanded, standing up and starting to walk around the house towards the garage.

The three of us entered, revealing her brand new sports car.

"You got me a car?!" She exclaimed, running towards it to check it out.

I smirked, walking over to hand her the keys. "All yours. Just be careful, no speeding and no driving into lakes."

"What?" She asked, raising a brow.

"Oh nothing." I shooed off, deciding to let Tala and Bryan tell the Range Rover incident next time they came.

"Thank you Baba, Dad. This is so amazing." She smiled, sitting behind the wheel and looking around her gift.

"That's not the only thing. We haven't planned it yet, but we wanted to do something special as a family so Dad and I thought we could go on a family trip and you could choose the location. Anywhere you want." Ray revealed.

Her eyes went wide, coming over and hugging us both. "You both are actually the best."

"Remember that next time you get irritated with us." I mentioned, getting a laugh out of Ray and a smirk from Kyra.

"Now, let's dig into some cake!" Ray grinned, leading us back to the garden.

I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend an evening. The love of my life on my right hand side while our daughter laid on the grassy patch in front of our bench, arms behind her head with her eyes closed, a pose that reminded me so much of myself at her age. It was calm, the stars were out and the three of us were happy, leading me to assume there was no better moment to pop the question than this.

"Ray, I have something I would like to ask you." I spoke up.

Kyra immediately sat up, turning towards the two of us to see our reactions.

"Umm okay? What is it?" He asked, a look of confusion spreading across his face.

"Over the past nineteen years you have given me so much. You've given me unconditional love, knowledge to allow me to see the errors of my ways, someone I can rely on and have someone rely on me, and most importantly, our daughter." I spoke, turning to look at Kyra when I'd mentioned her to see a few tears going down her cheeks.

I got down on one knee in front of him, holding out the ring box that Kyra and I had picked out earlier in the day. It was then he gasped, realizing what was going on.

"I have grown so much with you throughout our friendship and relationship and I know you're the only one I could ever imagine myself with. It's been a long time coming, but Raymond Kon, will you marry me?" I murmured, focusing on his golden eyes that were now filling with tears.

All he could do was nod, wrapping his arms around my neck to bring me in for a passionate kiss. This was it, I was officially engaged to the love of my life and our family was complete. It had taken a long time to get to this point, but every mistake, failure and effort was meant to get us to this. To get me to this. If anyone would have told me that at almost thirty-five I would be marrying Ray and have a beautiful eighteen year old daughter, I would've thought they were lying. But at this point in time, I felt truly happy.


End file.
